


Save Me from Myself

by onewomanshow



Series: i wanna love you forever [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Azula (Avatar) Redemption, Badass Katara (Avatar), Comfort, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, Everyone Needs Therapy, F/M, Happy Azula (Avatar), Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Katara (Avatar) Needs a Hug, Multi, Mutual Pining, Not Canon Compliant, One-sided Aang/Katara (Avatar), Past Aang/Katara (Avatar), Past Mai/Zuko (Avatar), Past Relationship(s), Post-100 Year War (Avatar TV), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Zuko (Avatar), Protectiveness, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, everyone is bad at feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-25
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-16 14:01:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 17,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29701641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onewomanshow/pseuds/onewomanshow
Summary: When Katara shows up in the Fire Nation at the palace almost ten years after the war's end, Zuko wonders if this is his second chance to make things right. But fate has never been that easy.
Relationships: Katara & Zuko (Avatar), Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Series: i wanna love you forever [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2195664
Comments: 70
Kudos: 119





	1. one.

**Author's Note:**

> I am once again asking you to read a work in progress. HOWEVER, I know exactly how I want this to go. I dreamt the ending last night lol.
> 
> Anyway, I wrote this when I was sad, forgot about it, was going through my files, and was like hmmm I should post this.  
> Rated M to be safe, may go up.

“Is it bothering you?”

“Huh?”

“The scar. Is it bothering you?”

Zuko sighed. He didn’t even notice that he was once again, absentmindedly tracing the starburst scar on his chest. “No, I forget it’s there most of the time. I don’t even feel it.” He shrugged nonchalantly.

“Well, you’ve been doing that a lot lately, so you know, I was just wondering.”

He took a deep breath. The woman, named Rina, was kind and sweet. Under pressure from his council to settle down and get married, they hooked her up with him on a blind date. Although he had an arsenal of willing and eager concubines and escorts to choose from (a little too eager if the constant love notes and tokens of appreciation were anything to go by), he didn’t like the idea of using women for his own pleasure, so they agreed to be cordial with each other if just to get them off his back.

They were going to entertain each other for a few weeks or so, then mysteriously break up. Zuko would be back on the market but it would send the message that he was, at least, interested in dating and looking for a bride.

It was even more necessary that he looked the part now that his ex-girlfriend, Mai, was engaged to a man she met on her adventures with June. It didn’t exactly send the best public message that his former childhood flame was about to get married, yet he was still being set on dates like a bachelor without the suavity that comes with being one.

He was happy for her, honestly. Mai never cared for politics and all of the formalities that came with it. Unlike him, she had a choice, and he knew she wouldn’t be happy in the long run so when she broke him up with him, he understood and took it in stride.

He wasn’t a temperamental, possessive 16-year-old anymore.

(And his growing feelings for someone else softened the blow.)

He was 25 and matured a lot since then into what some would say a calm, even patient man with the steely confidence to match.

After all, being the head of an entire country left little room for childish antics.

But he also had his Uncle and a therapist to thank for his tremendous growth, remembering the sporadic outbursts of frustration when he first took the throne because overwhelming pressure aside, he was still a 16-year-old kid trying to recover from an abusive childhood.

“How’d you get it?”

He clenches his jaw. Almost a decade later and the story of the agni kai between him and his sister was now a favored tragedy, being turned into dramatic performances at The Royal Ballet and even a children’s book – he was still trying to figure out how that unfortunate incident was suitable for a kid’s bedtime story but apparently it was really popular. So, everyone knew Azula gave him the scar, it was public knowledge, but only him and his closest friends knew exactly how he got it. One of the most frequently asked questions regarding the whole debacle was “Why didn’t he redirect it? His uncle, The Dragon of the West taught him how!”

How was he supposed to tell his girlfriend who’s not really his girlfriend that he got the scar he always seems to be touching whenever he’s in her presence by saving some waterbender? And not just some waterbender but the only one who’s ever set his blood on fire and run cold all at the same time because he’s in love with her?

No, they weren’t a real couple, but he was working on not being an asshole and no matter how you slice it, it’s a pretty fucked up thing to say, even to someone who’s pretending to be in a relationship with you. 

“The agni kai with my sister.”

“No, I mean, how did you really get it? Can’t you redirect lighting?” She asks, quirking an eyebrow.

He breathes deeply reminding himself to calm down.

He liked Rina.

Really, he did.

She was pretty and nice and came from a decent family.

But he only didn’t mind it when one person pried him about his feelings – and she, wasn’t her.

She would never be her and maybe that was the problem.

Maybe that was the root of all his loneliness and frustration.

“It’s…complicated.” He finally answers with a heavy sigh.

She purses her lips and appears to be analyzing his answer in her head, whether she deems it acceptable or not, but before she can acknowledge it with a response, his attendant, Shu, barges into the room, completely disregarding that he was supposed to be spending quality, alone time with his not girlfriend.

Zuko’s eyes dart toward him. “Is everything alright?”

“Master Katara is here and she’s been hurt.”

 _"What?_ ”

Katara was here? Alone? Where’s Aang? And why was she hurt?

“She barely made it into the palace, your majesty.”

He looks at Rina apologetically. “I’m sorry.”

Then as if he’s being controlled by some unseen force, perhaps it was love and concern for a friend, he’s out of the door and walking a lot faster than his normal pace.

***

Zuko’s heart drops when he reaches the main entryway and sees Katara tending to her wounds.

Her clothes were tattered, her skin was flushed, and the traditional Water Tribe braids she wore in the front of her hair were unraveling at the ends.

She looks up at him and smiles weakly. “Hey.”

And yet, she still looked absolutely beautiful.

He lets out the breath he didn’t even realize he was holding. “Katara…hi. Are you okay?” Stupid, that was a stupid question. Of course, she’s not okay.

He steps closer and realizes that her clothes aren’t just tattered – but that they have a lingering faint smell of smoke and are covered in singe marks.

He feels his temper flare and balls his hands into tight fists to keep the flames at bay.

“Who did this to you? And where’s Aang?”

“Oh, Aang and I broke up months ago.” She admits nonchalantly like it's no big deal.

This was news to him. Aang didn’t mention it in any of his letters and Katara, he realizes then, stopped sending him letters a few weeks ago.

He chalked it up to her being busy because granted, he was busy too, but now he wonders if it’s because she was traveling alone and by the looks of it…fighting for her life.

“Okay, well…that still doesn’t tell me who did this.”

She sighs. “Well, I was on my way here when I came across this band of rebels. They were planning to assassinate you, so I tracked them down and followed them to their hideout.” She pauses. “I mean _obviously_ there was a fight. But I won.”

“Are you fucking serious!? You could’ve been killed!”

Stupid, stupid girl.

Stupid girl that was always putting herself in dangerous situations to help him.

He'll address the assassination scheme later- there were so many he couldn't keep up. It was honestly a miracle and maybe a bit of luck that he'd managed to go this long without being killed but why would she do that?

She rolls her eyes. “Calm down. I’m fine.”

“Katara, you’re not fine. You’re covered in scrapes and bruises and who knows what internal injuries you have. You need to see the physician.”

She waves her hand dismissively. “You’re being dramatic. It’s nothing I can’t handle or heal myself.” She smiles sweetly at him. “Besides, what matters is that _I_ took care of it and that’s one less thing you have to worry about.”

 _No, but now I’m worried about you_ , he thinks to himself.

“I would feel a lot better if he got a look at you though.” He speaks softly, reaching out to grab her. Why did he want to touch her? He wasn’t sure. But she was here now and for some reason, he felt that if he held onto her, she wouldn’t go away.

“Are you saying you don’t trust my healing abilities!?” She pulls away from him with a jolt.

“No, it’s not that-“

“I have spent the past 9 years looking after Aang and licking _his_ wounds!”

Oh. So that’s what this is about.

“Katara, calm down. I just think that- “She sways then, and he’s reminded of that near-fatal moment years ago and the fear he felt, catching her in his arms before she hits the floor. “Katara!” He looks at Shu who more than likely heard all the commotion and came to make sure he’s okay. “Get the physician! Now!”

Then he looks at Rina and her eyes are flickering back and forth between the two of them.

And at that moment, he knows she knows.


	2. two.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I said I already know where I want this to go so here's another update.  
> The italics are a flashback.

Zuko paced outside the infirmary in the hallway. They were taking much too long for his liking and it was making him nervous. What if something was seriously wrong that wasn’t a quick fix?

He makes a silent promise that whoever they are, if Katara didn’t finish them off herself, he will.

Or at least have them sentenced to prison. 

He had matured and some of the members of his council even thought that he was too nice, overcompensating to correct his forefathers’ mistakes, but he was still enough of a hothead to entertain the idea of causing harm to someone who hurt his friend, although friend felt like too trivial of a word for who Katara was to him.

She really could’ve been killed and that’s what scared him.

Who knows how many she took on by herself? There was no doubt in his mind that she wasn’t capable of such a feat. He heard all about her adventures as The Painted Lady. And he knew that she was “The Painted Lady”– the descriptions of the damage she caused when he came across the file while going over wanted criminals in the Fire Nation were too similar to what she did to him and his crew to be a mere coincidence, so he came up with an excuse to pardon her, but the whole situation was still unsettling.

He was familiar enough with the rebel organizations that popped up since he was coronated to know that smaller groups almost always reported to a larger one if they weren’t disbanded entirely and anyone who got in their way of getting to him was seen as threats. He’d give his life to keep her safe, he already did it once, but knowing she was willing to put hers on the line for his- the thought made him queasy.

“Fire Lord Zuko.”

He’s pulled out of his thoughts at the sound of Dr. Han's voice and directs his attention to him. “I apologize for taking so long. Master Katara put up quite a fight.” He laughs lightly. “It was like dealing with a toddler about to get a shot.”

Zuko can’t help but smile at this information.

Somehow it didn’t surprise him at all. Katara’s stubbornness rivaled his own – and he imagined her scowling like a wounded animal whenever they tried to get too close because she always thought she had everything under control and refused help.

“But I know you care less about that and more about the status of her health.” He pauses. “I’m happy to report that there are no internal injuries beyond the burns and bruises which she did a tremendous job healing, by the way. Seriously, I’ve never seen such magnificent work, I’d love to have her as an apprentice…” Zuko raises his good eyebrow and the aging man coughs. “When she’s better, of course. But she is exhausted and has experienced a lot of stress lately. That explains the fainting.”

He lets out a slow, deep breath. “That is such a relief. Thank you. Can I see her?”

He nods. “Just be mindful that she’s a bit sore and needs her rest.”

Zuko opens the door carefully and Katara is struggling to put on the dressing gown that was left for her. “Do you need some help?”

She looks at him over her shoulder and shrugs. “Even if I say no, you’re going to anyway.”

“Not necessarily...I respect your boundaries.”

“Yes, but you’re too good of a person to watch a friend struggle.” She lets out a frustrated sigh. “Everything hurts.”

In an instant, he's next to her and helping her put it on. “Arms up.”

“Ugh, can you not do that? It makes me feel like you’re babying me.”

He rolls his eyes. “I’m not babying you; I’m taking care of you. You did it for me, remember?”

After the Agni Kai, Katara stood watch over him the entire night as if she didn’t trust herself. She was convinced that Aang only survived because she used the water from the Spirit Oasis. If anything, he was merely returning the favor. “Now, arms up, young lady.”

She snickers. “Yes, Fire Lord.”

Zuko briefly wonders if he’s dead and this is an illusion because it suddenly feels like the wind got knocked out of him. He looks down at her and she has an unreadable expression on her face.

“Sorry…I thought we were, you know… doing a thing.”

He shakes his head to free himself of the increasing inappropriate thoughts surfacing.

He likes to think of himself as a respectful man.

But he was still a man, and it was hard to have coherent thoughts when the woman you’re secretly in love with was sitting in front of you half-naked and just unknowingly triggered your dom kink.

“Anyway, everything hurts because you took an entire group of what I’m sure were highly skilled assassins down by yourself.” He pauses. “I would be impressed if I wasn’t pissed.”

“Are you serious right now? A ‘thank you, Katara. You saved my life’ would be nice.” She crosses her arms over her chest.

He growls. “It doesn’t change the fact that what you did was stupid, irresponsible, and dangerous. You know, how did you even do that anyway!? It usually takes me and a small army to stop coups.” He crouches down and grabs the slippers that were placed on the floor, taking each foot, and putting them on. He pretends not to notice the way her breath catches in her throat.

Katara bites her lip. “Would you believe me if I said I’m just that good?”

“I would. But I know there’s something you’re not telling me. You bite your lip when you’re nervous.”

“No, I don’t.”

He looks up at her. “You literally just did it.” Then he stands up to his full height. “I mean, you’re going to have to tell me exactly what happened anyway. It’s kind of my job and it happened on Fire Nation property…”

She rolls her eyes. “Yeah, I get it. You’re the Fire Lord. I’d liked you a lot more when you were socially awkward and didn’t know how to hold a regular conversation with anyone without bringing up your honor every 5 minutes.”

He laughs. “I’ll be sure to tell my therapist that the next time I see her. I’m sorry, you did your job so well that I’m not a total dork anymore.”

“Hey, I never said you were a dork. I said you were awkward.”

“Can you stand? I’ll show you to your room.”

“You just assume I’m staying? Don’t I have a say in that?”

Zuko tilts his head to the side. “Is…is there any particular reason why you have a counterargument for everything I say? I’m not bothered by it, just curious.”

Katara sighs. “I’m sorry, I know it’s probably coming out a lot harsher than I intend to.”

He smiles. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve experienced and witnessed enough of your verbal lashings to know that this is nothing. I do want you to stay though. At least until you get your strength back up and tell me everything that happened up until now starting from why you stopped writing me. And when you broke up with Aang.” He takes her hand and gently pulls her up. “Did no one think I needed to know that two of my close friends are no longer in a relationship?”

“About that. It’s a long story.”

“Well, I have nothing but time. I cleared my schedule.”

“Zuko!” She stops to look at him as they walk down the hallway. “Why would you do that!?”

“I’d be a bad host and an even worse friend if I abandoned you during your time of need.”

***

A week later, he’s on another “date” with Rina. They were meeting more frequently because his council thought he was spending too much time with Katara and thus, sending a mixed message.

But he hadn’t seen Katara in months and he didn’t want to admit it, but the letters they sent back and forth only made him miss her more.

And when she stopped sending them, he thought he did something wrong.

He didn’t know that she was practically on a stakeout.

_“Why didn’t you tell me of your plans? I would’ve helped you!”_

_“I didn’t need your help! I can take care of myself and I did!”_

_“Barely! What if you didn’t make it to the palace when you did? Then what?”_

_“I would’ve figured something out.”_

_He flexes his hands. Since when did she become the self-destructive, reckless one that didn’t think things through? Since when did their roles reverse?_

_“No, you would’ve died! And then I would’ve gotten some correspondence saying that a body was found on the side of the road, dead from a fight that could’ve been prevented, and that body would’ve been you!” He takes a deep breath and runs a hand through his hair. “I’ve dealt with enough unnecessary deaths to last a lifetime, okay? That’s the biggest downside to running the nation that caused a century-long war. There’s so much death and I’m constantly trying to make sure that none of those lives were lost in vain or will be forgotten.” He looks at her then, a pained expression on his face. “I don’t think…I know I wouldn’t have been able to handle that.”_

“What are you thinking about?”

He sighs. “I’m sorry, it’s just a lot going on right now. I’m a little distracted.”

“Do you want to talk about it? I mean, we are pretending to be a couple, right? Couples talk.”

“Um, I’m not much of a talker honestly. I never really have been.”

“Oh, please. I’ve heard some of your speeches. You seem pretty good at it to me.”

“Yeah, but there’s a difference between me giving a speech and me talking to a friend.” He rubs the back of his neck. “As Fire Lord, I have to be that. But it’s not…it’s not really me.”

She smiles. “Well, if it makes you feel any better, I think Regular Zuko is just as cool as Fire Lord Zuko.”

Zuko blushes a bit at the compliment. “I appreciate that.”

“So, what’s wrong?”

She was prying for information again and he was starting to think that she had an ulterior motive for trying to fish things out of him that extended beyond the barriers of making their mock relationship look believable.

But she hadn’t given him a legitimate reason not to trust her, so he figured he was just experiencing a bout of paranoia.

After all, even though it was a common occurrence that people wanted to kill him, he wasn’t sure if he’d ever be comfortable with the fact that it was purely a result of his birthright.

He smiles. “Come on, do you really want to spend our date talking about my personal problems? That’s not fun.” Paranoid or not, he doesn’t feel comfortable discussing Katara with her.

Hell, he barely felt comfortable talking about her to himself.

Yes, he talked to himself.

Between his council, the advisors, the ambassadors, the Fire Sages, an entire population of people, and Azula who luckily, mellowed out a lot over the years- he really needed to work on getting that Mental Health Care Act passed because if therapy could turn his murderous, little sister into a functioning semi-normal human being, _everyone_ needed to go, the conversations he had with himself were sometimes the only peace and quiet he got.

“I guess you’re right.”

Whew. When he was 16, he would’ve walked right into that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm totally headcanoning that Zuko and Katara have that playful ~flirty banter thing going on even when they're annoyed or irritated with each other lol.  
> And if you know me, you know I think that Azula deserved a redemption arch!!!! *screams from the mountaintop*
> 
> Also, I know we don't like thinking about it, but realistically the Gaang was forced to come to terms with the harsh reality of war, and that means death. And murder. 
> 
> P.S. I'm also headcanoning that grown and sexy FireLord!Zuko absolutely would be a Dom lmao.


	3. three.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short, but HEAVY chapter.  
> May make you cry, might not.  
> Meant to provide insight on Katara’s internal struggle, kinda an interlude.

***

“I…bloodbended them.”

It comes out so softly that Zuko almost thinks he didn’t hear her correctly – but the way Katara is shaking, he knows he did. “The rebels. I bloodbended them.” She repeats. The more she says it out in the open, the less conflicted she feels. 

He resists the urge to take her in his arms- wanting to comfort her because he knows how hard this is for her, knows how much she hates the practice, and remembering the way she broke down in tears on the way back from avenging her mother’s killer, swearing to herself that she’d never do it again, only to do it a mere few weeks later to keep his heart beating, keep him _alive_ , after he was struck down with lightning.

So instead, he offers an apologetic “I’m sorry. I know that must’ve been really hard for you.”

She gulps and she’s still shaking. “That’s…that’s the thing. I don’t feel bad about it.” She cracks her knuckles. “I could feel every single liquid in their body, the veins in their chest, the pulse of their wrists, and the vessels in their eyes, and I don’t feel bad about it.” She turns to look at him and there are tears pooling in the corner of her eyes. “It wasn’t even a full moon, and I did it and I don’t feel bad about it. What does that mean, Zuko!? I’m a monster?”

He reaches out to touch her because he can’t take it anymore. He hates that she’s beating herself up over this and he hates it even more that she did it to protect him. He grabs onto her wrists and commands her to look into his eyes. “You’re not a monster, Katara. You are not.”

She looks down, then because those piercing, amber eyes are just too much, and she knows she’ll fall apart completely if she does.

“Aang…he would think I am.” She laughs and he knows she’s not laughing because anything is funny. “You know, I still remember him judging me for wanting to avenge my mother. Ha. Can you believe that? The kid that went into the Avatar State when he saw Monk Gyatso thought I was overreacting. He’s not…he’s not the only one that lost everything, his entire culture, and heritage. I did too. But I’m the only one that was expected to just get over it.”

She takes a deep breath. “Not only do I not feel bad about it…but Zuko, it felt _so_ good. For the past 9 years, I’ve been the ‘Avatar’s Girlfriend.’ It felt good to be Master Katara again, to see people recognize my power. To respect me for who I am. Is that wrong?”

Zuko shakes his head. “I don’t think it’s wrong.”

In a way, he could relate. For three years, he was The Banished Prince, scorned and burned alive by his own father for talking out of turn. Then, he was the Formerly Banished Prince was big shoes to fill that everyone was waiting to fail.

It took almost ten years, a decade, for him to finally not only come into himself as Zuko, The Fire Lord, and gain the respect and trust of an entire nation but also as Zuko, The Friend, and The Brother.

He, too, understood, what it meant to be stuck in someone’s shadow.

“And I don’t think bloodbending is bad either. It’s an extension of your element. That makes it an extension of you. My uncle taught me how to not be afraid of fire and lightning because it's life. It's energy." He looks at her again. "May I hold your hand?”

Katara nods, a bit in a daze. He was so respectful – always asking if he could do something. Aang would just kiss her, even when she didn’t want to be kissed.

He takes her hand and opens his shirt with the other. He places it gently on the calloused scar on his chest. “Do you feel that? My heart beating?” She nods. “Look at me, Katara.” And she does. “Your bloodbending did that. _You_ did that.”

And just like that, she breaks.


	4. four.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Italics are flashbacks.

Azula walked into Zuko’s office, not even bothering to knock. He looked up from the trade agreements he was going over and rolled his eyes.

“Do you not know how to knock?”

She scoffs. “The door is open. Who knocks on an open door?”

He sighed. It seems like she was still his annoying, little sister – just without the intention and desire to kill him. “Well, what do you want? Are you here to challenge me for the throne again?” He teased.

She waves her hand dismissively. “Please, I’ve seen how stressed out it makes you. That position is all yours. Having my entire day planned out for me? I’ll pass.” Then she pauses. “Speaking of…how long are you doing this with what’s her name-Rika, again?”

“It’s Rina.”

“Meh, she’s not going to be around for long, I presume so I figured it’s no point in me remembering her name.”

“Azula…be nice.” He chastises gently.

She shrugs and makes herself comfortable, kicking her feet up over the arm of the daybed in the corner of the room. “I am being nice. I haven’t threatened to banish her yet.”

“You can’t banish anyone. You’re not the Fire Lord, remember?”

She grins. “That never stopped me before.”

“Yes, and because of you, I had to rehire most of the staff.”

Save for the select few that were Ozai Loyalists and plotting to dethrone him. 

She laughs and Zuko smiles.

It’d been a long time before his sister laughed in a genuine, heartfelt way and once he finally worked up the courage to go visit her in the psych ward, he found himself trying to get her to smile or laugh as much as possible.

Part of fixing his forefathers' mistakes included helping her heal and grow, and it was one of his greatest accomplishments that had nothing to do with regaining his honor or repairing a broken country, but everything to do with family.

“Anyway, tell me, brother. What exactly is going on with you and Katara?”

He stiffens. “What do you mean?”

She rolls her eyes. “Don’t play dumb, dum dum. She was supposed to stay for what, a few days, a week tops and yet you’ve housed her in one of the nicest guest facilities of the palace…almost as if, she’s a, I don’t know, semi-permanent resident?”

Granted, he did put her in a suite that had its own private entrance, a walk-in closet (pre-stocked with basic attire), and a spa tub but that didn't mean anything, per se. 

“I told her she could stay as long as she wants. She’s a friend, she’s always welcomed here.”

“Your fake girlfriend doesn’t even have accommodations that nice and she's the Royal Consort. You know, I almost feel bad for her…you’re in love with another woman and she can’t even see it. But that would require me to like her, so I don’t.”

“You don’t like any woman I’ve entertained.”

“I like Katara.”

He sighs. “Will you stop harassing me about my love life or lack of and leave me alone? Don’t you have a class or something to teach?”

As a part of her rehab– Azula had mandated community service working with underprivileged children in the Lower Ring of Caldera and ended up actually liking it. Now, she was one of the Firebending Instructors at a public school.

“Yes, but I have to take time out of my day to bother you, or I wouldn’t be a good little sister, Zuzu.”

“Goodbye Azula.”

***

Katara walks down the hallway on her way to the garden. She hadn’t been at the palace in a while, but whenever she visited, it was always one of her favorite places to be. It was calm and peaceful, and the fountain provided the perfect spot for her to practice her bending.

But, right now, she just needed to think.

_“You don’t want to be with me anymore, do you?”_

_She gulped at the sound of Aang’s voice. They were stopping through some random town on the outskirts of the Earth Kingdom on their way back from visiting Toph._

_He deserved to know the truth._

_Better late than never, she supposed._

_“No.” She doesn’t think that she ever did. She was young, confused, and at the time- he was the most convenient choice, the kid hero who saved the world from a tyrannical warlord._

_It was expected of her to be with him, and she always did what was expected of her, even when she was a child. She took care of people and nurtured them._

_That had always been her role._

_But the more she fulfilled that role, the more her own happiness suffered._

_She wasn’t Katara anymore. She was his girlfriend. She cooked for him, washed his clothes, and when he came home from his Avatar duties with cuts and scrapes or a pounding headache, she was there to heal him._

_“I can tell.” He speaks softly and she feels horrible because Aang is a good guy- just not the right guy for her (and a little too immature, he still had some growing to do), and despite everything, he’s still her friend, so it hurts to see him like this._

_But putting his feelings above hers is exactly how they ended up like this and that resentment wasn’t healthy for either one of them._

_She pulls her knees up to her chest and wraps her arms around them. “I’m sorry, Aang.”_

_“I’m the one that’s sorry.” He grumbles. “I made this for you.” And he tosses something next to her. It lands with a soft thud. She looks down and sees a betrothal necklace._

_She was sad, but now- now, she’s angry._

_She’s up on her feet instantly. “You were going to ask me to marry you!?”_

_“Yes, because that’s what people that have been dating for as long as we have do! They get married!”_

_“But we’ve never talked about marriage! All we’ve ever talked about is your Avatar duties and you preserving Air Nomad culture!”_

_“Well, I can’t repopulate them by myself!” He shrugs like it's no big deal- like marriage and children wouldn't change both of their lives (mostly hers)._

_She clenches her jaw and balls her hands into fists. ”Is that…is that all I am to you? A fertile womb for your baby-making machine?”_

_Aang shakes his head, the weight of his own words sinking in. “No. That’s...that's not what I meant.”_

_But it was too late. “You know, you’ve never asked me what I wanted, ever. And even when I told you I was confused; you pushed the subject anyway.” Tears were streaming down her face, but not because she was sad._

_She just felt…angry. At him, but mostly herself._

_“I’ve spent my entire life putting everyone else first so it’s time I did something for me. And you’re right, I don’t want to be with you anymore." She sighs. "So, I’m leaving.”_

_“Where are you going?" She turns away from him and busies herself packing her things. "Katara!”_

_“Somewhere I can find myself again.”_

That somewhere was the Fire Nation.

Years ago, if you told her that the Fire Nation, of all places, would ever feel like home, she would’ve laughed in your face for even thinking such a thing.

But, somehow, it managed to wedge a place in her heart.

Maybe it was because she was free to do whatever she wanted without having to answer to anyone here, or maybe, it wasn’t a what or where at all, but a _who_.

She never had to take care of Zuko, so when she did, it wasn’t out of any obligation but because she genuinely wanted to.

He was independent, self-sufficient, and whatever she gave, he returned. Even when she was angry and cold towards him, he always asked if she needed help with something when it was an afterthought to everyone else.

If she was the glue that kept them together, he was the foundation. 

Aang could protect her from harm and keep her out of danger, but Zuko – he made her feel _safe_.

She’s pulled out of her thoughts by the sound of leaves crunching under someone’s weight. She looks up and is surprised to see a tall, lithe woman staring back at her with a smirk on her face.

“So you’re the one keeping Zuko away from me." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shoutout to you if you peeped the foreshadowing in a previous chapter ;)


	5. five.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the record, I am trying my hand at doing something different with this story - relying on flashbacks to fill in gaps and tell the full story instead of writing out every little thing that's happened. 
> 
> If it's confusing, please let me know.

_“You love her.”_

_“What?”_

_“Katara. You love her.”_

_It comes out as a statement but felt like a question._

_Zuko sighed. “It’s Master Katara and she’s one of my best friends, so yes, I guess you can say that I do.”_

_He doesn’t know why he corrected her. Katara was never one for using her title despite earning it when she was fourteen after fearlessly challenging Master Pakku. Or does she call him Grandpa now? She mentioned to him years ago that the betrothal necklace she wore was the one he gave to her Gran Gran and now they were reconciling. But somehow her referring to Katara without it just didn’t feel right to him._

_He wouldn’t even be here right now if it weren’t for her._

_She deserved the utmost respect._

_“That’s how you got the scar, isn’t it? The lighting, she didn’t aim at you so you couldn’t redirect it. She aimed it at her and saving her was your priority.”_

_He swallows. “Yeah.”_

_Rina scoffs. “So that’s who I’m in competition with?”_

_“There’s no competition.”_

_She laughs, and although he doesn’t have much experience with women, he’s sure she’s not laughing because anything is funny._

_“I can’t believe this. You know, when you told me you weren’t seriously interested, I figured you just weren’t ready. But that’s…that’s who you’re in love with? Some backwards, country, pea-“_

_Zuko stands up and puts his hands on the table. “You don’t talk about her like that. You have no right.”_

_“Are you really defending her? Over me?”_

_“We’re not in a real relationship!”_

_She shakes her head. “And you seriously think you could be in one with her? They’ll never allow it.” She crosses her arms. “Whether you admit it or not, I’m the perfect bride for you. That’s why they picked me.”_

_He swallows. It pained him to admit that she had a point._

_He was finally starting to make leeway as Fire Lord. But most importantly, Katara had already lost so much to the Fire Nation- her mother and much of her culture. He found traditional garb, tools, and other materials like scrolls from the Southern Water Tribe in the palace archives far too often. He figured it was from the raids, items that belonged to the waterbenders. He sent them back to Chief Hakoda and Sokka so they can be where they rightfully belong, a lengthy apologetic letter with it every time expressing his sorrow, but it never felt like enough even when they told him that they appreciated it and didn't harbor any hard feelings towards him._

_He thought it would be incredibly cruel and selfish to drag her into this mess just because of his feelings._

_She deserved an easy, carefree life – not a life full of conniving politicians trying to outdo each other and a nagging press eager to spread rumors and slander._

_Rina looks at him. “You’re going to have to make a choice, Zuko. Your country, or your heart, but you can’t have both. No Fire Lord ever has.”_

“What?” Katara asks.

"You're the _thing_...that's in the way. You know, I always wondered how he got that scar. It just didn’t make sense to me that someone who put all that time and energy into learning how to redirect lightning, such a special sub-skill, wouldn’t do it when it mattered the most. And then it occurred to me that there had to be something…or someone, more pressing. Someone that he would want to save and perhaps, someone that Azula knew would throw him off his game.” Rina laughs. “I just never imagined it would be you.”

“Okay, who are you?”

She scoffs. “Please, like you don’t know.”

Katara shuffles awkwardly. "I really don’t.”

“I’m the Royal Consort. Do you know what that means? I won’t blame you if you don’t. Being simple and all…”

She growls and prepares to draw water from the fountain. Royal consort or not, she’ll explain to Zuko later why she beat up his precious girlfriend. But considering, he never mentioned her in any of their conversations, she probably wasn’t as important to him as she was making herself out to be.

But, before she can, a crack of lightning flashes through the sky.

Her voice is stern and powerful. “Leave. Now.”

“Princess Azula! It’s so nice to see you.”

“Do you really want to do this with me? My brother, he’s a lot nicer than I am. He’ll spare you for disrespecting her. Me, on the other hand…” She makes a ball of fire in the palm of her hand. “I have no qualms about making sure you get the message loud and clear.”

Rina swallows. “You’re not the Fire Lord.”

Azula grins that same wicked smile. “You’re right, I’m not. That just means I’m not obligated to properly challenge you…and there’s no rules in a street fight.”

***

“Were you really going to, you know, fight her?” Katara asks later that evening.

“No. But just because I’ve changed, that doesn’t mean I’m not going to scare some bitch that thinks way too highly of herself just because she was born into a rich family.” She smiles. “Besides, no one can talk to you like that but me." 


	6. six.

It starts with a confession.

“It’s always been you.” He whispers into the dark. Katara came to his room in the middle of the night following the incident with Rina. He laughs and says he was planning on breaking up with her anyway and tells her to remind him to thank Azula later, not for his doing dirty work, but for preventing an international incident because he wasn't sure how to address her water whipping a Fire Nation noblewoman when they're supposed to be making amends between the two nations. “Why it never worked out with anyone else…no matter how I attracted was to them, my heart, it was with you. It has been for a long time.”

She affirms his feelings with a kiss, a surge of confidence running through her, because who knew? Who knew the man that she harbored such strong feelings for felt the same?

He could have anyone he wanted, and yet, he wanted _her_ , for who she was, not what she could do or provide for him. That was just a plus.

Zuko closes his eyes and tries to savor the moment. There was no way this was happening right now – was she actually kissing him? He was afraid that all of this was just another dream, one he dreamt often, dreams about _her_ , but when he does open his eyes, she’s staring back at him with wide, ocean blue. She blushes. “Sorry, I didn't-“ and he silences her apology with another kiss. This time he’s a lot more responsive and darts his tongue out across her lips, requesting permission.

She sighs happily into his mouth, hands reaching out to run her fingers through his hair. For the first few years of his reign, he kept his hair just long enough to fashion a topknot to secure the Royal Headpiece. But she mentioned during one of her visits when he was exceptionally stressed out and hadn’t bothered to shave that the shaggy look suited him, that she actually liked his long hair that for so long reminded him of his father, so he started growing it out just for her.

It was just one of the many things he would do to make her happy or smile.

He helps her take it off when she starts messing with the prongs, crown falling to the floor with a soft clank. “I won’t be needing this.” Katara laughs. “What if I wanted you to keep it on?” He grins. “Then, I would have to order you around.” She runs her hands up and down his chest, committing the muscular panes to memory. His breath catches in his throat at the sensation. “And what if I wanted you to do that?” Zuko sucks in a breath. Was she trying to break him? “Later…right now, I just want to worship you like the goddess you are.” He places a kiss on her collarbone and inhales – she always smelled so good, like saltwater, a spring breeze, and jasmine. It was so distinctly her that he wanted to bottle it and keep it all to himself.

She leans back onto the bed and he proceeds to follow but miscalculates the distance and falls onto her in such an undignified manner he can practically hear his tutors from when he was a child scolding him for not being more sturdy and graceful. “I am so sorry” He blushes profusely as he spits out an apology. “I know I’m heavy.” Katara’s smiling. “You are…but I like it.” And he feels like he’s about to explode, literally and figurately. He was already forming a tent in his pants and all they did was kiss.

If he weren’t so attracted to her, he’d be embarrassed. Is he thirteen all over again kissing a girl for the first time or twenty-five?

He was seasoned and experienced if any of the few women he did bring to his bed were anything to go by. They certainly never had any complaints but now the horrifying realization sinks in that maybe, they just didn’t want to hurt his feelings.

After all, how do you tell the Fire Lord, the one who has the power to make your life a living hell if he wanted to (not that he would), he was bad in bed?

She giggles. “Relax, Fire Lord. I’ll tell you if it’s bad.”

And his brain freezes again because she called him "Fire Lord" in that way he knows isn't supposed to be seductive, but it is, and he doesn't understand why it sounds so intoxicating coming from her. 

He lets out a sigh of relief. “How did you know I was thinking that?”

“It was written all over your face, love.”

Love. He wants her to call him that all the time, in public too, but right now, he was just going to soak in it and enjoy the moment.

“I just want it to be good for you…and it has been a while.” He admits sheepishly.

“Then, I imagine you need practice, yes?”

It leads to breathy moans, gasps, deep grunts, stuttered syllables, hushed praises whispered directly into each other’s ears, red scratches on his back, and half-moon imprints on his arms. “I’ll heal them in the morning.” She manages to choke out, eyes blown back with desire and cheeks flushed from the steamy air.

“Don’t. I want to keep them.”

He’s blushing again – he’s never felt so close to someone in his life and yet, he wanted to be closer.

“Ah! Okay…okay.”

And he knows she’s at the edge of the cliff about to fall off, he can feel it in the way she’s clinging onto him and clenching around him.

He’s there too and wants to fall off with her. Better yet, he wants to _catch_ her, so he holds her hands and presses himself even tighter, focusing on the pulse of her neck. He found out that she really likes it when he breathes on it, remembering the way she shivered in his arms when he did it earlier. 

He thrusts at just the right time, hitting the right spot at the right angle and he imagines that is what peak spiritual enlightenment feels like because he's seeing stars and floating amongst the clouds.

It ends with an “I love you.” The words tumble out of his mouth so fast; he doesn’t have time to overanalyze if it was the right thing to say. It feels like it was, and he’d been wanting to say that to her for a long time, so he just goes with it.

She doesn’t miss a beat and she means it. “I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aight so boom. 
> 
> I never planned for this story to be very long so I'm expecting a few more chapters or so before it's finished. I actually already wrote the ending, so I just have to fill in the rest of the blanks. 
> 
> Normally, I take a more graphic approach to smut scenes with a lot of dirty talk *cough cough* Dom!Zuko, but it didn't feel appropriate for this particular narrative. So, I hope I did fluffy yet steamy smut with feelings justice ^.^


	7. seven.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Timeskip

_“So, you let yourself be upstaged by a waterbending peasant?”_

_Rina gulped at the sound of her father’s voice. “She is a master, dad…and a very good one at that.”_

_“I don’t care what she is. She’s not royalty. She’s not even a noble. Do you not remember our plan?”_

_When Zuko’s council began the search for a suitable mate, she was supposed to portray herself as the perfect candidate and try to get as much information out of him as possible._

_After all, the best way to overthrow the government was from the inside._

_When he wasn’t falling for her attempts to make their relationship look more realistic on the surface, it became clear to her that Katara was an obstacle in their plan._

_She throws her hands up exasperatedly. “What was I supposed to do? I can’t compete with someone he’s already in love with.”_

_Her father grins wickedly, an evil gleam in his eyes. “Oh, but you can.” He pauses and begins walking around the room. “Did Master Katara say where exactly she came from when she arrived at the palace unexpectedly?”_

_“No, but there was a fight. I know that much.”_

_“Now, I’m no stranger to bending, I’ve bested a few of them myself, but there’s no way one sole waterbending can take out that many unless she did something…let’s say, problematic.”_

_She rolls her eyes, getting annoyed. “What are you talking about?”_

_“I happen to be familiar with that little band of rebels…they’re a subgroup of the New Ozai Society and when they were found, on the verge of death, I might add, they said they were immobilized.” He pauses. “Katara, she’s not a chi blocker, of course, but it’s strange how that’s so similar to the one prisoner that managed to escape.”_

_Rina’s eyes go wide. She knew this story, she was a military kid and her minders occasionally told her about a waterbender from the South Pole that was so powerful and skilled that she learned to manipulate any fluid or liquid, even the blood in people’s bodies, but it was so terrifying and eerie, she thought it was just an oldwives tales._

_“Are you saying she’s a…bloodbender?”_

_“Yes, and what she did broke international law declared by the Avatar himself.”_

_“Well, what am I supposed to do with this information?”_

_“You, my dear, are going to tell the council. I’m sure they’ll come up with an appropriate punishment.” Then, he holds up a vial of liquid. “Or better yet, it’d be shame if she mysteriously fell ill with a sickness that has no cure…”_

_She bites the inside of her cheek. She didn’t like the way this was going. Using Zuko? Sure, it was wrong, but she could live with it. But she had no issues with Katara, personally…_

_“Okay. I’ll do it but we need a plan. I don’t think I’m even allowed within the vicinity of the palace now.”_

***

“So, what do we do now?” Katara asks, limbs entangled with his.

Zuko turns to face her. “Honestly, I never thought we’d get to this point.” He pauses. “You don’t regret it, do you?”

He had his heart broken once before. He could handle it again. If this was just some spur of the moment fluke and she wanted nothing to do with him afterwards, then he would cherish last night for what it was.

“No. I’ve wanted to do that for a long time. And it was even better than what I imagined it would be.”

He smiles. “Me too.”

Katara sighs contently and relaxes onto the sheets, completely satiated. It was a shocking contrast to the rare occasions she coupled with Aang where she had to sneak out of bed and get herself off.

“Zuko?” She questions after a few minutes of comfortable silence.

He hums in response. “Hmm?”

“If you felt this way…then why did you never say anything?”

“What do you mean?”

She rolls her eyes. “You _know_ what I mean.”

He sighs. “What was I supposed to say? You had Aang and I had Mai.”

“You and Mai broke up years ago.”

“Yeah, like that would’ve went over well. ‘Newly Crowned Fire Lord Zuko Makes A Move on Master Katara Who Just Happens to Be the Avatar’s Girlfriend.’” He drones on in his best radio personality voice. “We were still the bad guys then.”

“Well, you could’ve asked me to stay. It would’ve given me an option, a choice.” She pauses. “You can ask me now.”

His eyes nearly bug out of his head. “In the Fire Nation? No, I couldn’t do that…I can’t.”

“And why is that? Why can’t you when you obviously want me, and I want you?”

“Because…”

She sits up then and crosses her arms across her chest, red silk wrapped around her body. “Because what?”

“Katara…”

“Don’t ‘Katara’ me. You always do that when you don’t want to talk about something because it’s hard and uncomfortable. I’m good enough for you to sleep with and I’m good enough for you to tell me that you love me in private, but I’m not good enough for you to say ‘Katara, I want you here with me and I’m not letting go this time?’” She looks down and begins playing with the ends of her hair- another thing she did when she was nervous, he noticed.

“You are good enough and I do you want you here with me.” She can tell he means it and isn’t just saying it to please her or make her stop talking by the endearing expression on his face. “You have no idea how much it pained me to watch you leave with him every visit, not knowing when you’d be back, how much I hated seeing you get on Appa and fly away…”

“Then what’s stopping you now? I don’t get it.”

He sighs. “My mother…she never wanted this lifestyle and my father, he dragged her into it. And every day, I watched all of the rules and stipulations, all the fancy mannerisms and suffocating protocol destroy her. They made her leave and I never saw her again after that.” He swallows. “I’m scared, Katara. I’m scared one day that you’ll wake up, the pressure will be too much to handle, and you’re just...gone. I don’t want to lose you like that.”

Katara relaxes and reaches for one of his hands under the sheets, gripping it tightly. “You won’t. Zuko, look at me, you are not your father.” She leans over and kisses his scarred cheek. “And I’ll never leave you. They’ll have to drag me away kicking and screaming. I am _choosing_ to go through this hell with you, okay? I _want_ to help you rule and lead. I want to be there for you when you’re tired and stressed out. And I’m going to make you take vacations because these beds are way too soft and luxurious for you to not be sleeping.”

He grins because of course, she was confident that this, them, can work, that they would make it work. She was always confident and unwavering when he thought the ground was going to collapse underneath him and swallow him whole.

So, he says those three words again and it feels so good, like a weight has been lifted off his chest. “I love you” and when she says it back, he feels complete.

He settles back down next to her and then he’s the one with a question.

“If you felt that way, why didn’t _you_ say anything?”

Katara frowns. “I don’t know. I guess I felt like I had to be with him. I was young, still trying to figure myself out, and here was this guy…this _kid_ that brought me so much joy and happiness that I hadn’t felt in a long time. I couldn’t do that to him. I didn’t want to break his heart. In a way, I felt like I owed him. I know that sounds stupid.”

Zuko shakes his head. “No, it doesn’t.”

She smiles softly as a way to acknowledge his comment. “Anyway, it got to the point where I realized that I wasn’t happy anymore and I was tired of faking it. And I thought of Toph and how she stood up to her own parents and was like ‘you know, I’m going to be a great earthbender and you guys can’t stop me’ and I thought of you and how you took control of your own destiny and forged your own path, not the one your father tried to inflict on you, and I realized, if they can do that, why can’t I tell him ‘Sorry, I’m just not that into you?'” She sighs and touches her necklace. “I do wish I told him sooner though. He was going to ask me to marry him.”

He lets out a low whistle. “Ouch. Yeah, that sucks. But, he still should’ve talked about it with you beforehand, you know, to see if you two were on the same page...”

Katara rolls her eyes. “You don’t have to try and make me feel better about it. I’m glad it happened the way it did.”

“Really? Why?”

“Because it led me to you.” She pats his chest fondly. “Now…it is later and as much as I enjoyed that,” She leans up and places a kiss on his ear, whispering. “You promised me some really hot, rough sex.”

Zuko swallows thickly. “The sun is about to rise soon. I could really…do damage.” He admits shyly. He can feel his self-control slipping. There had been so, so many times when he wanted to just have his way with her. He saw her one evening after she came back from practicing her bending and had to bite his tongue until it bled to keep from groaning aloud at the sight of her glowing and wet, wrappings clinging to her skin. He wonders if she was driving him crazy on purpose.

She smirks and he feels like he’s having a heart attack. “That’s even better.”

***

**A Month & A Half Later...**

One night of steamy passion driven by years of mutual longing led to heavy petting when no one was looking, stolen kisses in secluded corners, and more nighttime rendezvouses. It also led to fond glances across the table, handholding in the garden, and her waking up to freshly picked flowers on her pillow.

It was new, fun, and exciting.

But the missed period and nausea she’d been experiencing lately that had her struggling to keep her food down suggested that it may have led to something else, something neither one of them was prepared or ready for.

It could just be stress, though, right?

She told herself it was. She told herself that even though her cycle has been regular for as long as she can remember, it was perfectly normal for her to be a day or two late.

She’d just taken up an Ambassadorial position – with Sokka next in line and ready to become Chief of the Southern Water Tribe, their father was stepping back more, leaving him with more responsibilities and a vacant opening on the Fire Lord’s Board of Advisors.

Of course, she was stressed out. There were so many documents to read and information to study- she didn’t want to embarrass herself in front of everyone, and better yet, embarrass him and validate any of his fears, but then a day turns into a week, and a week turns into two weeks, and suddenly she’s not just nauseous anymore, but she feels dizzy if she stands up too fast or moves too suddenly and her tops felt significantly tighter in the chest area.

She seeks out comfort in Azula.

She couldn’t tell her family yet when she hadn’t even told the father- if she was pregnant, that is. She was still holding onto that slim chance that this was all just some delayed growth spurt combined with a really bad stomach bug or case of nerves.

It takes her 5 minutes to work up the courage to knock.

“Come in.”

Azula is sitting at her vanity, furiously writing away on a piece of parchment.

“Are you busy? I can come back later.”

“No, just working on a lesson plan.”

Despite how sick she feels, she smiles at this. Azula, somehow, someway, perhaps it was divine intervention, had a knack for teaching.

Katara decides to tease her. It was a good distraction anyway.

“Okay, who are you and what have you done to the Princess that loved me calling a peasant?”

“She went to therapy and had a really supportive, patient, older brother.”

People wanted her bending to be taken like their father’s – but Zuko vouched for her, saying she needed a second chance, and taught her that firebending didn’t have to be fueled by hatred or anger. She claimed she was only an instructor because she “needed something productive to do”, but she knew that this was really her way of doing her part to make things right by teaching the next generation of firebenders the proper way so that they don’t grow up like her- full of rage.

Then Azula turned around to look at her and smirked. “But I can still call you that if you’d like.” She pauses. “You used the wrong fork to eat your salad the other day, so there’s obviously still some peasantry there.”

She rolls her eyes. “I don’t understand the point of all the silverware. It’s all going to the same place, right? Why does it matter what I eat it with? And why did no one tell me? I sat there like an idiot.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll get it eventually. I imagine you’ll be a pro at Fire Nation etiquette and protocol one day. Or you can always just watch Zuko if you’re unsure, but he might choke if he catches you staring at him. Besides, he’s the only person whose opinion about you matters anyway.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“As in, even if someone did point it out, he’d probably tell them to fuck off. In a nicer way, of course. He thinks it’s improper to tell people to fuck off. Not me though. I say it all the time.”

“And there she is. Hello Azula.”

“Hi Katara.” Then she smiles and clasps her hands together. “Now, if you’re here to tell me I’m going to be an aunt, I already know.”

Katara sputters. “What?”

“Firebenders rise with the sun so unless you’re secretly a firebender, the only other reason you’d be up at the crack of dawn, throwing up no less, is because you’re pregnant.”

“That’s not true. I could have, um, food poisoning.”

“We eat the same meals…everyone would have food poisoning.” She deadpans.

Right. That was stupid. The only difference is that her meals weren’t spicy, but other than the removal of a few peppers and seasonings, the concept was the same.

Katara deflates. “I haven’t checked yet to confirm if I am.”

“Katara! I’m not familiar with that kind of stuff but aren’t there some kind of prenatal vitamins you’re supposed to be taking? Isn’t the first trimester the most important? How far along are you?”

She quickly does the math in her head.

6 weeks. 6 weeks ago, she went to see Zuko in the middle of the night and 4 weeks ago, the period she was expected to have, never showed up.…”A month? Month and a half? Maybe.”

Azula sighs. “You’re scared, aren’t you?”

“Yeah.” She breathes out.

“Why though? There’s no one else Zuko would want to have a child with but you. He’s going to be nervous and honestly might pass out when you tell him, but he loves you. If anything, he’ll faint because he can’t believe something this good is happening to him. ”

Katara knows she’s trying to comfort her, but it doesn’t have that effect.

“How am I supposed to explain that I wasn’t ready to marry Aang but not even a year later, I’m pregnant by another man and we’re not even married?”

Azula rolls her eyes. She’d been in the Fire Nation so long, she sometimes forgot how conservative everyone else was. Growing up as royalty meant she was used to nobles and dignitaries sleeping around with mistresses and concubines, only to have them sent away when an unexpected side baby popped up.

It was messy and when she was younger, she thought it was funny. Now, she wonders about all the broken families it must have created because they couldn’t keep it in their pants or use contraceptives. 

“Katara, you loved Aang, but you weren’t _in love_ with him. However, you are in love with my brother. That’s really the only explanation you need and it’s not like he’ll abandon you. Zuko’s not that kind of guy. It being you the one carrying his child would make him want to be there even more. Besides, it's been years of you two making googly eyes at each other and having eye sex. I'm surprised it took this long.”

She sighs. “I’m not some hormonal teenager. I’m an adult. I know all about birth control, how many options there are, and when to take it. For La's sake, I gave this talk to _Toph_.” 

Azula walks over and hugs her. “You’re not perfect, Katara, you don’t have to be, and you said it yourself, you are an _adult_.” Then she pulls away and smiles. “And as much as I hate thinking about it, this is just as much his fault as it is yours.” She makes a face. “You know, I thought I heard something when I walked past his room one night coming back from the kitchen…but I just figured he was dying.” 

“And you didn’t think to check!?”

She shrugs. “I would rather live with his memory than the image of you two doing it. Now, let’s get you to the physician so you can stop freaking out if it is in fact, nothing.”

“But what if it is something?”

“You’ll still have nothing to worry about. Auntie Azula has a nice ring to it. I’m _not_ changing any diapers though.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Seriously though, it did sound like he was dying. Did you choke him?”

“Azula!”

“Sorry, I’m just curious.” 

“Well, it depends on what occasion you’re referring to…”

“Ew, nevermind, forget I asked.”


	8. eight.

_Pregnant._

After she went to see the physician, he confirmed her suspicions. Honestly, she was more in tune with her body than the average person. She commanded water; it wasn’t just her element but an extension of her entire being. And the human body was 60% of it so she knew that the subtle _thump, thump, thump_ she felt that someone without her skillset or abilities would struggle to detect was not merely indigestion, but a heartbeat.

A baby’s heartbeat.

A baby that would be half her and half Zuko, half Water Tribe and half Fire Nation.

Well, everything just got a lot more complicated.

What if they end up a waterbender?

Can a waterbender sit on the throne or is the whole firstborn thing strictly reserved for firebenders?

She’ll have to ask Zuko later.

A blue-eyed, waterbending Fire Lord?

The Fire Sages would have a heart attack.

She doesn’t even worry about if the baby being a girl is a problem. Azula was almost Fire Lord so gender obviously wasn’t an issue.

What if they don’t bend at all? Then what?

Ugh. She shakes her head and looks down at her still flat stomach. If it wasn’t one thing, it’s another. Katara tries to focus on what Azula told her earlier. The firebender left to give her some privacy to process everything and she suddenly wishes she stayed because now that she’s alone, she doesn’t know if she wants to throw up from morning sickness or nerves, but either way, the fire flakes she strangely craved earlier suddenly left a metallic taste in her mouth and want to come back up.

And, as she suspected, she was 6 weeks along, give or take a day or two. She and Zuko did it multiple times within a span of 72 hours so it was hard to pinpoint the exact moment of conception and due date.

She once heard an elder in her village say that if a female orgasm were required to get pregnant, fewer babies would be born, and at the time, young and naïve, she didn’t understand what that meant.

Now, the first time she had one, at least, not one she gave herself; she did end up pregnant.

She didn’t know where to laugh or cry. Zuko was already giving her self-satisfied smirks whenever she was too tired to clean herself up and he had to carry her into the shower – this would send his confidence to an unbearable level.

He would be a good father, an exceptional one even. She had no doubt about that.

The way he loved and cared for Azula when everyone disregarded her as a mentally ill monster and not an abused _child,_ she knew she would raise him or her with the utmost tender care. He’d want to spoil them, and she’ll have to be the disciplinarian because no matter who they are, bender or nonbender, blue-eyed or gold-eyed, boy or girl, they’ll have him wrapped around their little finger.

She smiles and rubs her stomach fondly, even though there’s no pronounced bump there yet. “Well, little one, whoever you are, let’s go tell your father you exist so he can start loving you.”

After all, she was already halfway through her first trimester. She was going to start showing soon and wouldn't be able to hide it anymore.

***

_“Fire Lord Zuko.” Zuko looks up at the sound of Shu, his attendant’s, voice._

_“Yes?”_

_“Lady Rina is here to see you.” He shuffles awkwardly. “She says she has vital information to tell you.”_

_He rubs his temples. Of course, she did._

_His intuition told him she gave him a bad vibe, but he chalked it up to paranoia. He didn’t trust many people. His profession didn’t allow it. At best, there were always people out to get him, or something from him, and at worst, they wanted him dead._

_But still. He didn’t want to be that guy – an oppressive, authoritarian figure that didn’t at least hear people out, even if they have wronged him or someone close to him. He sighs._

_“Fine. Let her in.”_

_She’s brought in by two guards, each holding onto her with her arms behind her back. What the-?_

_“We found this on her, your majesty.” One of the guards speaks, holding up a tiny vial of liquid. Was that poison? Was she planning to kill him?_

_“It’s not what it looks like.” She says in a rush. “Please, let me explain.”_

_Zuko appears to be in deep thought. She was clearly a threat and that’s why they apprehended her. But, if it’s anything he learned from sitting in on interrogations – something he didn’t do often unless their crimes were especially heinous, it was that they often held valuable information that was useful to prevent future incidents._

_“You may speak.”_

_Rina takes a deep breath. “My father is working with the New Ozai Society. He knows Master Katara is a bloodbender and he gave me this vial to poison her.” Zuko feels his heart drop. Somehow, knowing someone wanted to kill him, was, well, normal at this point. Knowing someone wanted to kill her on the other hand was his worst nightmare coming to life and deepest fear. “I…I was working with him and I know I shouldn’t have. I understand if you don’t trust me, but you have to believe me when I say he’s a threat. He wants her dead. I think he’s figured out that if-if they can’t get to you…they’ll come for someone you love.” She hangs her head down. “I’m sorry, Zuko.”_

_Zuko looks at her, trying to keep his temper at bay. “You’re going to tell me everything. I need to know what they're planning and when they're planning to do it. For your compliance, I’ll have your sentence reduced but what you did still classifies as treason, and for that, you do have to go to jail.”_

_She nods. “I understand. And I’m happy to help.” Then the guards lead her out of the room to be taken to a holding cell._

***

Zuko’s reading over the transcript from Rina’s interrogation when there’s a knock on his office door.

True to her word, she did relay everything she knows. Azula sat in on it to make sure she told the truth. Much like Toph, she could tell when people were lying, saying something about how she used it to her advantage when she was younger- but he was almost positive that she scared her into honesty for she was a lot more effective at being intimidating than he was. On the bright side, this particular rebel group her father was working with was the last one, the others disbanded and sentenced earlier during his reign. However, it did little to soothe him, and he wanted to put Katara in a protective bubble until the investigation was over.

Normally, he handed these situations personally with a select few members of his personal guard and a small militia. But, that left Katara at the palace and although she was capable of protecting herself, he felt better being there with her.

He made a mental note to assign some guards to her. She was an Ambassador and officially the Royal Consort now, so they were just as responsible for her safety as they were for his.

He puts it into a desk drawer. “Come in.”

The guard opens the door and lets Katara in.

He always thought Katara was beautiful, but she was absolutely glowing today and looked radiant.

Zuko jumps up and walks around the desk, wrapping his arms around her. “You look lovely. And I’m so glad I’m able to do this now.”

Katara pushes him away, gagging and looking a bit pale before issuing a small ‘thank you’.

His brow deepened. “What’s wrong?”

“You smell like cinnamon.”

Zuko always smelled faintly like smoke, cinnamon, and mahogany but now her heightened sense of smell had her reeling from the earthy scent.

“I thought you liked the way I smell.”

She shrugs. “I used to hate fire flakes too, but I ate some earlier and it tasted _so_ good going down.” She refrains from mentioning that they did not taste the same coming back up. 

Okay, what? Katara always complained that fire flakes burned her tongue and avoided them at all costs. Now, she was willingly eating them? That’s odd.

He frowns and places the back of his hand on her forehead. “Hm. You don’t feel warm.”

“I’m not sick, Zuko. I mean, I am, but not in that way.”

“Are you on your period? I can get you some ginger tea.”

Katara complained of having bad cramps so whenever she stopped by the Fire Nation, he made sure to send her off with some. Ironically, it also helped with nausea.

She lets out a choked sound. “I haven’t had my period in over a month.”

“Oh. Is that normal?”

She grabs his hand and leads him over to the daybed, sitting on it. She turns to look at him.

“It is for someone in my condition.” She gestures lamely at her belly. Zuko flicks his gaze between her eyes and her stomach repeatedly. She can practically see the wheels turning in his head.

Zuko wasn’t stupid. He did stupid things, of course, everyone does sometimes, but he was very smart, and he knew from the biology class he took in grade school that the symptoms that showed up with a menstrual cycle were similar to the symptoms that appeared when one was… _pregnant_ and if Katara didn’t get hers…then…then she was….

“You’re pregnant!?” His eyes nearly bug out of his head.

“Yes, I am, and I understand if you don’t want it and if you don’t want anything to do with me. I’m so sorry!” She cries, putting her head in her hands.

But then she’s being pulled into his lap and he’s holding her close to him, her head nestled onto his shoulder. He places a kiss on her temple and starts whispering comforting words into her ear. If this were a completely different situation, she’d be turned on but that’s exactly what got them into this predicament, so she pushes the feeling to the side.

He finally pulls away and she’s relieved because it was getting increasingly difficult to resist _that voice_ and he’s beaming at her.

“You’re pregnant.”

“Yes.”

“I’m going to be a father.”

“Yes.”

“You’re carrying my child. It’s growing inside of you right now.”

“Yes.”

Now Zuko feels like he’s the one that’s going to throw up because the woman of his dreams, the reason he jumped in front of a comet-charged lightning bolt, _his_ waterbender, is pregnant. He wants to throw up from happiness and he doesn’t understand it but Katara keeps bringing all these feelings he’s never felt before out of him.

“You’re mine, you know that?”

Katara blushes. “I kinda thought I already was.” He sure did say it enough when they were fornicating.

“Yes, but I just wanted to reiterate it.”

“So, you’re not mad?”

He was nervous, of course. This happened much faster than he was expecting, but he also was not surprised. He wasn't a preteen trying to figure out what was that sticky stuff coming out whenever he felt aroused. He was well aware that unprotected sex leads to babies. At the time, he wasn't worried about that, more concerned with getting her to make those noises again. But now, he feels a swell of pride. 

“I could never be mad at you when you’ve given me such a gift.”

She doesn’t know if it’s the hormones or him just being a soft romantic but she’s crying again. “I’m sorry.” She laughs. “This is probably going to happen a lot.”

“And I’ll be there every step of the way. Holding your hair while you vomit, getting every single nasty concoction you crave in the middle of the night, unlimited foot massages, and back rubs. I even want to be there in the room when you’re in labor and I know I’m not supposed to be because of ‘tradition’, but they can get on me about it later. I want to hold your hand while you curse me out and break it in four places.”

She snuggles up to him and kisses his neck, humming softly. They sit like that for a while in peaceful silence before she decides to speak again.

“Zuko.”

“Hm?”

“What are you going to tell the Fire Sages? Your council?”

“You let me worry about that, okay? I want you to be as stress-free as possible.”

She giggles. If he's already this protective, it was going to be a long seven and a half months. "Okay.”

“Zuko.”

“Yes?”

“We’re going to have to tell my family.” He gulps and she smiles. “But don’t worry, Sokka won’t kill you.” A brief pause. “My dad might though.”

“That…doesn’t make me feel better.”

He’s met Chief Hakoda and the man even referred to him as an extension of his own family. He never treated him any differently and Zuko appreciated that even though it took him a while for him to be fully comfortable and not tense up whenever he gave him a hug.

But telling him he got his daughter, who’s he not married to, pregnant? He thinks that’s scarier than facing his own father.

At least Uncle is going to be thrilled. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't make Rina the stereotypical villain, she's more like an anti-hero.  
> And typically, I know fics tend to make Zuko terrified by the thought of becoming a father and I usually take that approach myself, but I wanted to try something different lol I'm sorry if that's OOC.


	9. nine.

“I’m just mad you told Azula before me. She’s not your real sibling.” Sokka pouts.

Katara shoots Azula a look. He was not supposed to know that.

“Did you really think I wasn’t going to gloat that you told me first? And you are going to be my sister after tomorrow.”

She smiles. She was set to marry Zuko tomorrow afternoon during a private wedding with their closest friends and family. It wasn’t like a traditional Fire Nation ceremony with an extravagant party that lasted for days on end, but nothing about their relationship was.

After all, she was due to give birth in four months.

Traditionally, they were expected to court for a year or two, give or take, he’s supposed to propose, they get married, and then children come into the equation. But since he already provided her with a place to live, which was vital to any Southern Water Tribe engagement, it’s she who proposes to him, which was also not traditional.

***

_They’re sitting in his room, even though she’s noticed him referring to it as “our” room ever since she told him she was pregnant when she pulls out a box she has conveniently hidden under the bed. He’d never look there so it was a good place to keep him from finding it._

_“I have something for you.”_

_“It’s not my birthday.”_

_She rolls her eyes. “Consider it a ‘just because’ gift.”_

_Zuko sighs. He hated getting gifts. He never knew how to accept them, so it was always awkward and uncomfortable, but he takes the box from her anyway._

_“Can I have a hint on what it is?”_

_She decides to amuse him. “It’s something you can wear.”_

_“Katara, I already have a lot of clothes.”_

_“Yes, but you don’t have this.”_

_He shakes his head. This woman was unbelievable. Then, he opens it and his jaw drops. Inside the box was a beautifully designed, handmade, red, fur-lined parka embroidered with the Fire Nation insignia on the back. When did she even do this? She never fails to amaze him._

_“I don’t understand…what’s this for?”_

_“Well, if you’re going to be going to the South Pole more often, you need proper attire.” Then she looks at him shyly. “And since you already got me a house” She uses her hands to gesture to their surroundings “which is a crucial part of any Southern Water Tribe engagement, it’s customary for the fiancée to make her fiancé a winter coat.”_

_He looks at her, speechless. “Are you asking me to marry you?”_

_“Will you say yes if I am?”_

***

Her dad actually took it pretty well (better than he thought he would, at least) and promised to take Zuko ice dodging the next time they visit so he can become an honorary citizen and Sokka just laughed, saying that now he has a proper sparring partner for swordfights.

All their friends and family were in Caldera for the big day – Toph, Suki, Iroh, Ty Lee, The Duke, Haru, even June, and Mai took time off from their bounty hunter adventures to attend, Mai teasing Zuko for beating her down the aisle first and June laughing at the idea of him marrying the same girl he claimed in horror that she wasn't his girlfriend.

Everyone was excited and looking forward to them becoming a legally bounded partnership and Katara’s subsequent coronation, except for one person. And although she didn’t blame him, it still hurt.

Just then, Zuko walks in and Azula screams. “Brother! You’re not supposed to see the bride the day before the wedding. It’s bad luck.”

He rolls his eyes. “I think we’ll be okay.” He turns to Katara and grins. “My Lady, may I borrow you for a minute? The Fire Lord is requesting your presence for a private conversation.”

Sokka groans. “Ew. I hope ‘private conversation’ isn’t code for sex.”

Katara giggles. “No, ‘I need help going over the taxes’ is code for sex.”

It was a code she came up with. Now that the icky symptoms that came with the first trimester were gone, her energy levels increased and her appetite came back, including her appetite for Zuko. She actually was going over some tariffs in her study when she looked out the window briefly and saw him practicing in the training arena.

She’ll never tell him – but it’s why she requested that particular office in the first place, so she can drool over him. Although, she had a feeling he knew because he’d been using the arena more often.

***

_She marches down to the arena and hits him with a water whip to get his attention._

_He turns to look at her, a soft smile on his face. “Sweetheart, you know you’re not supposed to be bending.”_

_She’s so turned on; she doesn’t even bother arguing with him for chastising her. Dr. Han said she shouldn’t bend extensively and to limit strenuous activity. A single water whip was hardly strenuous. She could do it in her sleep._

_She bites her lip, running her eyes down his torso. She wanted to be bent over something though and that’s not nearly the same thing…_

_“Zuko, I need help. I’m having trouble with the taxes.”_

_He quirks an eyebrow at her. “Still? You said the other day that you understood it.”_

_She darts her tongue out and runs her hand down her front. “Something…came up. I mean, I could take care of it myself.” She sighs and puts on that voice that she knows makes him melt. “But you’re just so much better at it than I am.”_

_He smirks, catching onto what she was referring to. “Give me a minute, I’ll be right up.”_

_She turns on her heels to leave, feeling giddy like a schoolgirl._

_“Katara?” He calls out after her._

_She looks over her shoulder, eyes shining with desire. “Hmm?”_

_“Take everything off, clear your desk, and sit on it.”_

_“Yes, Fire Lord.”_

***

He sticks his tongue out. “That’s disgusting.”

“Did you think I got your sister pregnant just by kissing her?”

“La, la, la, I’m not listening!”

Zuko takes her hand and leads her out of the room into a quiet alcove. “He’s going to think we’re doing our taxes all night.”

She snorts. “He’ll get over it.”

“Anyway, I wanted to give you something. For your coronation.” He presses a book on the shelf, and it opens to reveal a glass case.

“How many secret passages and hiding spots does this palace have?”

He smiles. “I’ll show you all of them one day. But that’s not what I wanted to give you.” He reaches his hand in and pulls out a jewelry box. “It’s this.”

She stares at it. “You got me a box?”

“It’s what _inside_ of it, Katara.” He deadpans. Then, he presses the lock, and it pops open revealing a gold crown adorned with alternating sapphire and aquamarine stones and The Southern Water Tribe emblem overlooking a flame encrusted with rubies on top.

“Zuko…” She breathes.

“The first Fire Lady to be a waterbender, a Southern one at that, should have a crown that represents it.”

She doesn’t even bother to stop herself from crying and he frowns. “What’s wrong?”

“You’re so good to me. Oh, this must’ve been so expensive.”

“I’m good to you because you deserve it.” He closes it and grabs her hand, looking her in the eyes. “I cannot wait to watch the Fire Sages put this on you tomorrow. I can’t wait for you to be our Fire Lady.”

Katara smiles. “You said our.”

“I know. After tomorrow, they’ll be your people too.”

“I still want to know how convinced your council to accept me.”

He sighs. To put it simply, he had to do a lot of sucking up and ass-kissing. He hated the idea of nepotism but if putting in a good word so their grandnephews could serve as counsels in Gaoling and Yu Dao soothed over their concerns about Katara being Fire Lady, he’d write recommendation letters for everyone.

Besides, Toph promised she’d keep them in check, and he was sure that loosely translated to beating them into submission. 

And it did work in his favor that Katara was good at her job. Waterbender or not, she knew her shit and the thought made him want to brag about her all day.

“You’re a great Ambassador.”

She shoots him a look that screams ‘I know it was more than that, do not lie to your pregnant soon-to-be wife’.

“And I had to kiss those old bastards’ ass.” He pouts.

“Ugh, I know you hate doing that.”

“Yeah, but I’ll do it for you.” Then he kneels so he’s eye level with her stomach. “And you too. You hear that, little one? Daddy loves you so much, you can have whatever you want.”

“Within reason.” Katara adds.

When he doesn’t affirm it, she taps him on the shoulder. He looks up at her with a wicked grin. “You do realize Uncle and Hakoda are her grandfathers, right? Me spoiling her is the least of our problems. It’s them you should be worried about. Uncle’s already bought her a mini tea set and apron.”

Katara rolls his eyes as he stands back up to his full height. “First of all, our child will not be spoiled rotten. Second of all, you keep calling our baby she. We don’t know the sex yet. How can you be so sure?”

“I just have a feeling.”

***

Katara marries Zuko the next day and he cries when she walks down the aisle. She chose to wear a custom-made purple gown because “red and blue make purple and it’s the color of royalty” according to the Palace Seamstress and it highlighted her bump beautifully. He was so happy that she chose to show it off instead of trying to conceal it with loose fabric because there was nothing to be ashamed of.

No, they didn’t do things the way they were supposed to, but they loved each other and that’s all that mattered. They were the first Fire Lord and Lady to wed that wasn’t an arranged marriage and he felt like all the good that he’d been trying to do, led up to this moment where he can be with someone that he actually wants and makes him happier than he’d ever been.

Sokka gives a drunken ‘Best Man’ speech that makes all the attendees laugh. Azula shocks everyone, including herself, when she starts crying halfway through hers, and promises to bully him tomorrow for making her cry so people won't think she's getting soft. He leads Katara around the smaller banquet hall reserved for more intimate gatherings in a dance even though he told himself he’d never dance in public because who was he to deny her of anything?

She eats off his plate even though they’re eating the same thing and she grins. “I’m eating for two now.” He rolls his eyes but takes the chopsticks from her and places a piece of roasted duck in her mouth. The staff brings out bowls of berry ice cream topped with fire flakes and a sprinkle of salt and she squeals so loud there’s no way the entire city didn’t hear it because that’s exactly what she wanted. He knows she’s going to be up for much of the night with heartburn and nausea when they retire to their room later, but he doesn’t even care. If his wife wants berry ice cream topped with fire flakes and a sprinkle of salt as one of the dessert options, that’s exactly what she’s going to get.

Then, Shu comes in and taps him on the shoulder. “Fire Lord Zuko. Lady Katara. The Avatar is here.”

***

“I’m sorry, Katara. What I did was wrong, and you didn’t deserve that at all.” Aang pauses. “I’m not here to ask you to give me another chance to make things right. I see how you look at Zuko and how he looks at you. I don’t think we’ve ever had that. I guess, a part of me was jealous and hurt that I wasn’t the one, you know. Your one. But I’ve had a lot of time to think now that I’m traveling solo and you’re right…we weren’t ready. I wasn’t ready. I’m still figuring myself out and I can be a little selfish.”

He takes a deep breath. “And I’m sorry for missing the wedding. You look beautiful, by the way. I just hope, that after all this, we can still be friends. I hope you accept my apology, but I understand if you don’t. Just…please let me be Uncle Aang. I’ve been practicing my airbending tricks.”

Katara smiles softly. The 12-year-old kid she pulled from the iceberg was growing up. “I forgive you, Aang, and I accept your apology. We broke up but that doesn’t mean I stopped loving you. I don’t think I ever will. We’ll always be friends.” She pats her stomach. “And of course, you can be Uncle Aang. She needs someone a bit more levelheaded because Sokka is an idiot.”

“It’s a girl?”

“Zuko seems to think so.”

Aang shifts his attention to him. He was standing a bit of a distance away to give them some privacy but the wisdom of a thousand past lives told him that he was hovering because Katara's pregnant. It was apparently a thing that expectant fathers, especially first-time ones, did.

He grins. “Congratulations, Sifu Hotman.”

Zuko groans but the corner of his mouth is turning up into a smile. “Please don’t teach my daughter that.”

“I make no promises.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't end this with Aang and Katara being mad at each other.  
> There's one more chapter left :(. Yes, I planned for this to end with 10 chapters, you'll see why. The epilogue will probably be posted tomorrow (even though it's 3am rn so I guess later today? idk)  
> BUT, yall have shown so much love to a drabble I wrote when I was having a depressive episode, it motivated me to finish this piece. And I already have ideas for spin-offs or sequels so hello, let's celebrate that :)


	10. ten.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I cried writing this.

It happens in the middle of the night.

It was the eve of the 10th anniversary of the end of the One-Hundred-Year War, and he wants to do nothing else but sleep. It was the last, big project he had on his to-do list before he takes paternity leave, Katara already relinquishing some of her duties two months prior.

She experienced a bout of premature contractions one day during a meeting, nearly falling out of her chair, and Zuko was so terrified he was going to lose her, the baby, or both, that it really went in one ear and out the other when Katara, the physician, and the midwife, told him it was normal and everything was fine – he’d already made up his mind and cleared her schedule, the most pressing of matters that couldn’t be put off being given to Azula to handle.

Now, she’s reached the point in her 3rd trimester where she complains that she's the size of an artic seal, and that her nose, cheeks, and lips were puffy with what she said was ‘water weight’ but he thought she was absolutely adorable, having to refrain from outright awing whenever she waddled around like a mama turtleduck. She pouted that she could barely do anything by herself anymore. Although, she did try, sometimes with results that she thought were hilarious while it gave him a heart attack, like the time she got stuck in the bathtub because she was unable to get herself out due to her sense of balance and center of gravity being off and didn’t call for help, already having dismissed her attendants for the day because “they were smothering me and I needed some alone time.”

_“Hi.”_

_“Hi.”_

_“Are you stuck?” He asked._

_She looked up at him sheepishly. “Yes.”_

_He sighed and rolled his eyes, walking over to assist. “Why didn’t you call for help?”_

_She shrugged nonchalantly as if it was no big deal, gripping onto his shoulders to steady herself as she stepped out of the tub. “I didn’t think I needed it. I was fine anyway. Nothing happened.”_

_He frowned. “Just because nothing happened that doesn’t mean nothing could have happened.”_

_“What? You think I would drown or something? I am a waterbender.” She quirked an eyebrow at him teasingly._

_“Can you just…be more careful?”_

_“Can you stop being such a worry-wart?” The tone in her voice told him that she was getting annoyed._

_He placed a kiss on her forehead before moisturizing her body – her protruding stomach prevented her from reaching her own legs and feet, so he did it for her, a different kind of intimacy in their newlywed relationship. Then, he helped her dress for bed. She had taken to wearing just her wrappings and a very thin, cotton nightshirt, complaining that anything more was entirely too hot and constricting. “I’m not trying to start an argument, I’m just concerned. That’s all.”_

_“I know.”_

Katara was achy, had swollen feet and ankles, a back that always hurt in some way and it was incredibly hot, so it was difficult for her to get comfortable enough to sleep without tossing and turning all night.

That should’ve been his first clue, but he was so exhausted, he snuggles up next to her- as much as he can without her saying he’s too close because according to her, he’s a walking furnace, and quickly falls into a deep sleep.

He wakes up to damp sheets and Katara groaning in pain next to him. He’s up with a jolt, lighting the lamp with a quick motion to look at her.

Her face is twisted up, she’s already stripped herself of her clothes leaving her in a maternity bra, and beads of sweat are starting to pool on her forehead.

“Are you in labor?!”

“Yes.”

“Why didn’t you wake me?!”

She grits her teeth as another contraction surges through her. “I was waiting for my water to break.” She admits casually.

“You are absolutely insane! Why would you do that?”

“Are you really going to scold me right now?” She sucks in a breath and grabs his shirt, yanking on it. “Get the midwife. This baby is coming, _now_.”

He’s on his feet and out of the bed in an instant, snatching the door open with such force, it startles the guards.

“Is everything alright, My Lord?”

“No, my wife is in labor!”

One of the guards is already on his way down the hall to inform the necessary staff and even in his anxious state, Zuko smiles because it’s Katara who told him they need something simple for him to say to let them know the baby was coming, knowing that he would probably be a babbling, incoherent mess. So, she informed them that if he said any variation of “my wife” and “labor," to get the midwife just in case.

The midwife arrives shortly after, already on call, and it feels like things start happening much faster after that. Or, maybe, it just feels like that to him because Katara laid next to him having contractions for Agni knows how long before she said something.

Delirious and high on adrenaline because he’s about to become a father to a real, living, human being, he expresses this.

“Wow, everything is happening so quickly.”

She looks at him with daggers in her eyes. “You’re not the one in labor. Your kid is stretching my cervix as we speak!”

He winces. “I know, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. You’re doing _amazing_.”

“Shut up, Zuko!”

The midwife, an elderly woman named Song that reminds him of Gran-Gran, takes pity on him.

“Have them bring some ice chips from the kitchen and feed them to her. It’ll make her feel better.”

Katara scowls. “No, it won’t.”

But it does make her feel better and he’s happy because she’s happy- or at least soothed enough by the ice chips and the cold rag on her forehead that the atmosphere is relatively peaceful and the bowl of water next to them is no longer violently shaking.

The midwife sighs. “This might take a while. First-time mothers usually do.”

Zuko has no doubt that she's right about this, he trusted her, and she's delivered more babies than he could ever imagine, but most first-time mothers are not Katara, and like with everything she does, she amazes and surprises him.

He doesn’t even have time to get comfortable before she’s gripping his hand so tightly, he _hears_ the crack and pop of one of his bones. Or several. He really couldn't tell how many, all he feels is pain but it's nothing compared to the burn from his father when he was 13, or the burning he's sure she's feeling right now (he could actually see her stomach contracting from the strength of them and it just looked painful), so he deals with it. For her, he'd let her break as many bones in his body as she wanted. 

“I need to push.”

The midwife eyes’ go wide and lifts the disheveled blanket up to check. A part of him wants to see, too – it was nothing he hadn’t seen before, but then he remembers the advice of his Uncle and father-in-law: “There’s a lot of things coming out of a lot of places. Do _not_ look” and it occurs to him, that this is probably the one time he should listen to his Uncle the first time around, so he doesn’t and refocuses his attention on his wife. She looks at him and nods. “It’s time.”

Katara screams as she bears down, a deep, guttural sound he’s never heard before and Zuko remembers her mentioning to him that she watched women give birth back home and they were always advised not to scream because it was a waste of energy. He’s sure there’s some truth to that advice but he’s so in awe by her, he can’t do anything but pepper soft kisses over her face and whisper praises. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too but I’m so mad at you right now.”

“Okay, my lady, this is it. One more push and your baby will be here. Make it count.” Song instructs, grabbing a towel and cupping her hands.

“I’m probably going to curse you out now, okay?”

He smiles and tears are already threatening to spill from his eyes.

“Give it your best shot.”

***

It happens as the day breaks - the piercing, loud cry that signals his child was born. In a matter of seconds, his life changed for the better, all over again.

For so long, it was just him. He didn’t have anyone else to care or worry about. Then, it was Katara, and she managed to wedge her way into his life, coming in like a hurricane, all brash and determined, a perpetual pain in the ass, but still sweet and loving.

“You have a beautiful baby girl.”

And he feels his heart grow, already making room for this new person in his life because now there’s this baby- his baby that was half him and half Katara, their daughter, a love child of the moon and the sun. Song asks him if he wants to tie off the cord and his hands are shaking the entire time, but he manages to do it, and then, the baby is taken to be cleaned of blood and amniotic fluid. He places a kiss on Katara’s sweaty forehead and even though she’s exhausted, she’s glowing, smiling brightly.

“You were right.”

By now, he’s fully crying, cheeks stained with tears, so as much as he wants to gloat that he was because he’s never right, he just breathes out “We have a daughter" in astonishment. He leans down to kiss her on the lips and it’s an unspoken “I love you”, “thank you”, and a “you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me” all wrapped into one.

“Ehem. That’s exactly how this little one got here.” Zuko pulls away from Katara, blushing.

That’s not exactly how it happened, but…

“Really?” Katara laughs. “You’re embarrassed by that? You've seen worse at this point.”

He rolls his eyes and Song gently places the baby in her arms.

“Hi, baby.” Katara coos. “We’re so happy to finally meet you.” The baby gurgles and opens her eyes and she gasps. “Zuko, look, she has your eyes.”

For so long, Zuko did not like his eyes or his face, for that matter. He was crippled with self-hate at one point in time and the scar made it worse. Whenever he imagined having a child, he always wished that they would take after their mother. He still hopes that one day, they have a child that’s a mini Katara, but right now, he’s soaking in the blissful joy he feels at having a child that looks like him that won’t grow up to hate him or herself. “Here. Hold her.”

“But she’s so small.”

Katara carefully maneuvers their daughter so she can grab his chin and force him to look at her. “Babies are fragile but she’s _your_ daughter and I promise, you will _not_ break her.”

Once again, she always knows what to say and he briefly entertains if it was possible for her to be Fire Lord. She passes her to him and some strange instinct stirs in him. He hadn’t held a baby since he held his sister, which was a very long time ago and he doesn’t really remember it, but somehow, he knows to support her head and cradles her.

He looks down at her and a tear drops on her sleek, black hair. He laughs. “You’ll have to forgive me for crying all over you, my little turtleduck, but I’m your daddy and I love you.”

_***_

From the Office of Fire Lord Zuko 

Fire Lord Zuko and Lady Katara are pleased to announce that on this day, early this morning, Princess Emi 恵美 of the Fire Nation made her royal debut weighing 7lbs and 8oz at 17.3 inches long. The Fire Lord is particularly pleased to announce that she has, in his own words “My eyes, her mommy’s smile, and all 10 fingers and toes. I should know because I counted them. Twice.” Both mother and baby are healthy and doing well. They’re asking that we respect their privacy at this time as they adjust to parenthood and appreciate all the congratulations.

I, Regent Fire Lord Azula, am writing this on his behalf and I cannot think of a better way to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the end of the One Hundred Year War than by welcoming my niece. Our uncle, General Iroh, would say something poetic about how where there is death, there is also life. Please enjoy the festivities that have been prepared to celebrate this special day. 

Sincerely,

_The Fire Nation Royal Family_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's all folks.  
> Thank you for going on this journey with me. I appreciate every single kudos and comment. Stay tuned for more adventures with baby Emi - it means "blessing" in Japanese.


End file.
